Bach - Imagine, Jean Rondeau (2015) [24bit FLAC]

IMAGINE is the first Warner Classics release from the dynamic young French harpsichordist Jean Rondeau, who sees it as “an exploration of all the possibilities that lie in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and in the harpsichord”. Praised by radio station France Musique for his “maturity, fabulous touch and originality,” the multi-talented Rondeau feels that, as a young musician today, he has “an incredible opportunity to break out of the concert hall and meet the world”.

IMAGINE features one of Bach’s most celebrated harpsichord works, the Italian Concerto BWV 971, but it mainly comprises transcriptions of music that the composer conceived for other instruments: the violin, the lute and the flute, including the towering Chaconne in D Minor. “This isn’t a disc of transcriptions, though,” says Rondeau. “As its name suggests, it is about imagination – an exploration of all the possibilities that lie in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and in the harpsichord. And though it’s not making a direct link to John Lennon, it’s nice if the title of the CD calls him to mind.”

1 Bach, JS: Lute Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 997 (arr. Jean Rondeau): I. Prelude - Jean Rondeau
2 Bach, JS: Lute Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 997 (arr. Jean Rondeau): II. Fuga - Jean Rondeau
3 Bach, JS: Lute Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 997 (arr. Jean Rondeau): III. Sarabande - Jean Rondeau
4 Bach, JS: Lute Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 997 (arr. Jean Rondeau): IV. Gigue - Double - Jean Rondeau
5 Bach, JS: Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003 (arr. W. F. Bach): I. Grave - Jean Rondeau
6 Bach, JS: Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003 (arr. W. F. Bach): II. Fuga - Jean Rondeau
7 Bach, JS: Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003 (arr. W. F. Bach): III. Andante - Jean Rondeau
8 Bach, JS: Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003 (arr. W. F. Bach): IV. Allegro - Jean Rondeau
9 Bach, JS: Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004 (arr. J. Brahms): V. Chaconne - Jean Rondeau
10 Flute Partita in A Minor, BWV 1013 (arr. Stéphane Delplace): I. Allemande - Jean Rondeau
11 Flute Partita in A Minor, BWV 1013 (arr. Stéphane Delplace): II. Corrente - Jean Rondeau
12 Flute Partita in A Minor, BWV 1013 (arr. Stéphane Delplace): III. Sarabande - Jean Rondeau
13 Flute Partita in A Minor, BWV 1013 (arr. Stéphane Delplace): IV. Bourrée Angloise - Jean Rondeau
14 Bach, JS: Italian Concerto in F Major, BWV 971 (arr. Jean Rondeau): I. Allegro - Jean Rondeau
15 Bach, JS: Italian Concerto in F Major, BWV 971 (arr. Jean Rondeau): II. Andante - Jean Rondeau
16 Bach, JS: Italian Concerto in F Major, BWV 971 (arr. Jean Rondeau): III. Allegro Vivace - Jean Rondeau
17 Bach, JS: Violin Sonata in C Major, BWV 1005 (arr. Wilhelm Friedemann Bach): I. Adagio - Jean Rondeau